Formula Drift will stream live over the Internet on Friday

Formula DRIFT and YoParts’ Live Stream Partnership will provide an interactive online broadcast during all seven championship events.

Formula DRIFT will offer a new component at all seven rounds of Formula DRIFT this year—the first ever comprehensive interactive live stream broadcast for fans.

The Live Stream will feature hours of live Formula DRIFT action both on and off the track and capture every moment of the schedule: practice, qualifying, Top 32 competition, and also a special presentation of Top 16 using Live Pack Technology. Live Pack Technology enables Formula DRIFT to do live remote coverage from anywhere on the track including in-pit, post-tandem battle, on-grid, and even live from the drivers’ seats.

“This is a major announcement for Formula DRIFT. Tom and Zak at YoParts have made this possible and we are really excited to bring this technology to our events,” said Ryan Sage VP and co-founder of Formula DRIFT. “This is a perfect technology for our demographic given the web savvy and knowledgeable nature of our audience.”

Fans will be able to watch the same camera shots and angles that are seen on the Formula DRIFT television show, enjoy chatting live with other fans with real-time messaging via Twitter and Facebook, and have the ability to select different available feeds both audio and visual. For fans on the road or at the show, there will also be a Live Stream application for web based cellular phones, such as the iPhone and Android. Another component of the Live Stream is the ability to watch segments of the race, “On Demand.”

“YoParts.com is excited about the opportunity to use these cutting edge technologies to bring the Formula DRIFT fans non-stop action during the Formula DRIFT weekends. Our main goal is to show the exciting, “behind the scenes,” action of a Formula DRIFT weekend,” said Tom Masiero Co-Founder of YoParts.com. “YoParts would also like to thank Frank Maguire and the team at Race Day Media for making this all possible.”

Teams and drivers will even have the ability to use strategically placed cameras in the teams’ pit area to give fans the ability to watch them behind the scenes on a specific channel of the Live Stream at anytime during the event weekend.

Formula DRIFT has created a built-in functionality on the home page of the website to host the Live Stream. Content will also be available via embed code to share on websites or social networking sites such as Myspace and Facebook.

The first Forumula DRIFT Live Stream broadcast will air during Round 1: Streets of Long Beach on April 9-10 on www.formuladrift.com.